The Times of India: Vadodara: Wednesday, 5th March
2025.
There seems no end to the
controversies surrounding Dr Vijay Kumar Srivastava, the former vicechancellor
(VC) of MS University who resigned in Jan after facing a legal challenge in the
Gujarat high court (HC).
While Vadodara MP Hemang Joshi wrote an open letter asking Srivastava to vacate the official bungalow of the MSU VC, Dhanvantri, new information has surfaced on how Srivastava fabricated his biodata.
In the biodata he submitted to the Gujarat govt for appointment as VC of MSU, Srivastava claimed to have served as “professor and associate director of research” at Kamdhenu University (KU) in Gandhinagar, for ten months, from July 2017 to May 2018.
A Right to Information Act (RTI) reply has now revealed that Srivastava was not a professor at KU. Instead, he was initially hired by KU on an ad hoc basis, after which his services were discontinued. He was then hired on a contract basis by the univer sity in Gandhinagar.
Senior professor Satish Pathak of MSU’s Department of Education challenged Srivastava’s appointment on the grounds that his selection and appointment amounted to a violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.
Pathak contended that Srivastava lacked the mandatory 10 years of experience as a professor. Regulation 7.3 of the UGC Act requires that person to be appointed VC possess experience as a professor for a minimum of 10 years at a university or 10 years of experience in a reputed research and/or academic administration organization, Pathak submitted in the Gujarat HC.
“Dr Vijay Kumar Srivastava worked as associate director of research at the Directorate of Research at KU. He was appointed on an ad hoc basis and on contract at the university,” the RTI reply that Pathak received from KU states.
The documents further reveal that Srivastava was initially appointed associate director of research on an ad hoc basis (temporary basis) for six months from July 2017 to December 2017, after which his services were discontinued.
The register of pay and al lowances shows that he was paid Rs 1,30,150 per month during this period. The pay scale of a professor is much higher.
The documents further reveal that his services were later discontinued, and he was effectively demoted. He was given the same job through a Gandhinagar-based outsourcing agency (Om Enterprise) but this time for a fixed salary of Rs 50,000 per month. The contract came into effect on Jan 21, 2018.
“I earlier submitted the annual report of 2017-18 of KU as evidence to establish that Dr Vijay Kumar Srivastava had fabricated his biodata. The annual report of KU clearly mentioned that Dr R G Shah was holding the post of associate director of research at KU during the academic year 2017-18 the period that Srivastava showed in the biodata he submitted for appointment as MSU VC. Now, the RTI reply and documents clearly reveal that he never held a regular post at KU. This establishes how he fabricated his entire biodata by mentioning posts which he had never held,” said Pathak.
While Vadodara MP Hemang Joshi wrote an open letter asking Srivastava to vacate the official bungalow of the MSU VC, Dhanvantri, new information has surfaced on how Srivastava fabricated his biodata.
In the biodata he submitted to the Gujarat govt for appointment as VC of MSU, Srivastava claimed to have served as “professor and associate director of research” at Kamdhenu University (KU) in Gandhinagar, for ten months, from July 2017 to May 2018.
A Right to Information Act (RTI) reply has now revealed that Srivastava was not a professor at KU. Instead, he was initially hired by KU on an ad hoc basis, after which his services were discontinued. He was then hired on a contract basis by the univer sity in Gandhinagar.
Senior professor Satish Pathak of MSU’s Department of Education challenged Srivastava’s appointment on the grounds that his selection and appointment amounted to a violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.
Pathak contended that Srivastava lacked the mandatory 10 years of experience as a professor. Regulation 7.3 of the UGC Act requires that person to be appointed VC possess experience as a professor for a minimum of 10 years at a university or 10 years of experience in a reputed research and/or academic administration organization, Pathak submitted in the Gujarat HC.
“Dr Vijay Kumar Srivastava worked as associate director of research at the Directorate of Research at KU. He was appointed on an ad hoc basis and on contract at the university,” the RTI reply that Pathak received from KU states.
The documents further reveal that Srivastava was initially appointed associate director of research on an ad hoc basis (temporary basis) for six months from July 2017 to December 2017, after which his services were discontinued.
The register of pay and al lowances shows that he was paid Rs 1,30,150 per month during this period. The pay scale of a professor is much higher.
The documents further reveal that his services were later discontinued, and he was effectively demoted. He was given the same job through a Gandhinagar-based outsourcing agency (Om Enterprise) but this time for a fixed salary of Rs 50,000 per month. The contract came into effect on Jan 21, 2018.
“I earlier submitted the annual report of 2017-18 of KU as evidence to establish that Dr Vijay Kumar Srivastava had fabricated his biodata. The annual report of KU clearly mentioned that Dr R G Shah was holding the post of associate director of research at KU during the academic year 2017-18 the period that Srivastava showed in the biodata he submitted for appointment as MSU VC. Now, the RTI reply and documents clearly reveal that he never held a regular post at KU. This establishes how he fabricated his entire biodata by mentioning posts which he had never held,” said Pathak.
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